Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
7. Concerning divorce
~ 173 ~
assistance, he could provide her with continuing
maintenance from the government exchequer,
baitul
mal, etc.
Today, anyone who cites ‘Umar’s ruling as a
precedent in order to justify the finality of a divorce
based on three utterances of the word
talaq
on a
single occasion should remember that his verdict
will remain unenforceable for the simple reason
that he does not have the powers that ‘Umar, as
Caliph, possessed. ‘Umar’s verdict was that of a
powerful ruler of the time and not just that of a
common man. It is necessary at this point to clear
certain misunderstandings which have arisen about
the extent of agreement which existed on ‘Umar’s
ruling. Of all the Prophet’s Companions who were
present at Medina at that time, perhaps the only one
to disagree was ‘Ali. As a result of this, certain
‘ulama
have come to the conclusion that the
Prophet’s followers (
Sahabah
)
had reached a
consensus
(‘ijma)
on this matter.
l46
But the consensus reached was not on the general
issue of divorce, but on the tight of Muslim rulers to
make temporary and exceptional rulings, as had
